Hiring manager called me one week after panel interview and his tone was confusing

 

District calling reduced-pay leave + separate as-needed job "double pay" — is this standard leave administration practice?

TL;DR: After a work injury, I was on reduced-pay leave, then unpaid leave while the district worked out a permanent accommodation. During that time I picked up a separate as-needed role with different hours. I asked to formalize that role earlier but was told to wait until the accommodation process finished. Now they're calling the leave pay + that role's pay "double pay" and want to recalculate, including holding back recent pay. Trying to figure out if this is normal practice or worth escalating.

I'm a part-time classified employee at a CA public school district. After a work injury, I was given permanent restrictions by my doctors. The district had nothing available within those restrictions, so they put me on extended leave at reduced pay for a set period, then unpaid leave while they worked out a permanent accommodation — a process that dragged on well past the original timeline.

During that time, I picked up a separate as-needed role with the district, hours that didn't overlap with my original schedule. I did this for several months. At one point I asked about converting to permanent in that role and was told to wait since the accommodation process was still open. Eventually they agreed to make that role my permanent position.

Now payroll says the leave pay and the separate role's pay overlapping counts as double pay, and they want to recalculate retroactively, including holding back some recent pay.

These were two separate roles with separate pay and non-overlapping hours — nothing was hidden, since I'd tried to formalize it earlier and was told to wait. I want to stay on good terms with the district since I'd like to keep working there. I'm also a CSEA member if relevant.

For HR folks: is it common for these leave programs to require offsetting outside earnings, even from a different role with the same employer? Does it matter that I raised the conversion request earlier and was told to wait?

Jobadvisor

Short answer: it depends heavily on what kind of leave the "reduced-pay leave" actually was, and the answer isn't a clean yes or no. But the way they're handling the payroll clawback — especially withholding current pay unilaterally — is the part worth pushing back on regardless of how the underlying question shakes out.

Why "double pay" claims show up in some leaves but not others

For classified employees in CA public schools, paid leave tied to a workplace injury is usually Industrial Accident Leave (IAL) under Education Code §45192. IAL is specifically designed to supplement workers' comp temporary disability so you land at (roughly) your normal net pay — not more. Because it's calibrated to a specific salary-replacement number, districts often do treat outside earnings during that period as something that has to be netted against it. If your "reduced-pay leave" was IAL, an offset provision is plausible and not unusual.

Once you moved to unpaid leave, though, the logic is different. If the district genuinely paid you $0 during that stretch, there's nothing to "double" against — you can't overlap pay with a leave that isn't paying you. So the real question is: during which specific weeks did district leave pay and as-needed pay actually coincide? If the overlap they're flagging falls inside the unpaid period, their "double pay" theory doesn't hold up on its face, and you should ask them to show you exactly which pay periods and which leave code they're citing.

Does it matter that you asked to formalize the role and were told to wait?

Yes — not necessarily to whether an overpayment technically exists, but to everything downstream of that:

• It undercuts any implication this was concealment. You disclosed and tried to regularize it.
• It's strong equitable leverage for how repayment is handled — spread out, not clawed back from a single check, no discipline attached.
• If a district representative effectively approved or at least knowingly tolerated the arrangement, that's relevant to a grievance even if it doesn't erase an overpayment.

On the pay withholding specifically

California Labor Code §221 restricts an employer's ability to unilaterally deduct wages already earned to recover a claimed overpayment. DLSE guidance generally requires either your written agreement to a repayment arrangement or a specific legal process — not just payroll deciding to hold back a check. If they're withholding current, already-earned pay without your sign-off, that's worth flagging as a separate issue from whether the underlying recalculation is correct.

What I'd do next

• Ask payroll/HR in writing for the specific leave code/policy provision they're relying on, and the exact pay periods they believe overlapped.
• Loop in your CSEA rep now, before agreeing to anything — this is exactly what the union exists for, and there may be a grievance timeline running.
• Don't consent to a lump-sum deduction from a paycheck; if an overpayment is confirmed, negotiate a repayment schedule.
• Keep your written record of when you asked about formalizing the as-needed role and were told to wait — that timeline is your strongest card.

I'm not an employment lawyer, and CSEA's council rep or a workers' comp attorney (many do free consults) can look at your actual leave paperwork and give you something more precise than a general read.

Would you reschedule an interview if a candidate missed it because they had the wrong time zone?

My partner had a job interview that he verbally set on a phone with HR for 11 am yesterday. The company is in EST while we are in CST. Yes, he should've confirmed which time zone, but he was excited and just forgot to ask. The interview rolls around, and he opens the link in the email and sees that the time is listed as 8 am PT which is weird because neither of the parties are in that time zone. And then he does the quick conversion and realizes that means the meeting was for 10 am CST/11 am EST. So that means he's missed it.

He immediately emailed the HR rep and apologized and explained his error. He also tried giving him a call. No response on either front. Now he's totally panicked that kicking himself that he lost this opportunity.

So, how likely are you to overlook this mistake and give him another shot? Is it a standard practice to consider this type of mistake a red flag or one that would immeditaely eliminate him from consideration?

Jobadvisor

I get why he's panicking, but this is a very recoverable mistake — genuinely more common than it feels right now, and most reasonable HR people know that.

Why this usually isn't disqualifying

Time zone mix-ups are one of the most frequent scheduling errors in remote/phone-scheduled interviews, especially when the time was set verbally rather than via a calendar invite. HR reps who've been doing this a while have seen it before. What actually matters to most hiring teams is less "did a mistake happen" and more "how did the candidate handle it" — and he did the right things: emailed immediately, apologized, explained clearly, tried calling too. That response is genuinely reassuring to an employer, not damning. A candidate who no-shows and goes silent is a red flag. A candidate who owns it within minutes is not.

The confirmation email listing PT (a third, unrelated zone) also suggests the scheduling communication itself was a little sloppy on the company's side — a calendar invite with the correct localized time would have prevented this. That doesn't erase his part in it (he's right that confirming the zone was on him), but it does mean he's not the only variable that went sideways here.

What would actually make this a red flag

• Not noticing or responding at all
• A defensive or excuse-heavy message instead of a clean apology
• This being a pattern (e.g., if he'd already rescheduled once before)
• The role being one where extreme precision/attention to detail is the core job function (e.g., something in scheduling, ops, aviation) — in those cases some interviewers might weigh it more heavily

For most roles, none of that applies here.

No response yet — what that does and doesn't mean

Silence for a day (especially if it's crossed a weekend, end of day, or the rep was in back-to-backs) doesn't necessarily mean anything bad. HR reps often can't reply immediately even when they're totally fine with rescheduling. I wouldn't read too much into the gap yet.

What I'd suggest

• One follow-up is appropriate if there's been no response after a couple of business days — brief, no over-apologizing, just reiterating interest and asking to reschedule.
• Avoid multiple calls/emails in a short window; that can read as anxious pressure rather than professionalism.
• If a reschedule happens, showing up a few minutes early with the zone triple-confirmed will quietly put the whole thing to rest.

Try to help him not spiral over this one — a single honest, quickly-owned scheduling error is just not the kind of thing that tanks a candidacy for most employers. The fact that he panicked and immediately did damage control the right way actually says something good about him.

I applied at Costco and met the hiring manager.

I lost my job of 12 years last month. I never thought I'd be looking again, so I've been very depressed lately. I asked a few Costco employees if they were hiring and got, "Yes, apply online. Then come in and meet the manager." So I did. He took my name and phone number and said to expect a phone call today. That was 2 weeks ago. I never received a phone call. Should I call and check in, or should I just take this as a "not interested?

Jobadvisor

Losing a 12-year job is a huge blow, and job searching while dealing with that is genuinely hard — it makes sense that this two-week silence feels heavier than it might otherwise.

On the practical question: no, I wouldn't take this as a "no." Following up is not only fine, it's expected and generally viewed positively.

Why the silence likely doesn't mean rejection

Costco hiring managers are often juggling dozens of applicants across multiple departments, seasonal hiring surges, budget/headcount approvals that stall mid-process, or they simply lost track of a name jotted down in a busy hallway conversation. A verbal "expect a call" from a floor conversation is a much looser commitment than a formal interview follow-up — it's easy for that to fall through the cracks without it reflecting on you at all.

What I'd do

• Call the store and ask for that hiring manager by name. If you don't remember his name, front desk/membership counter staff can often connect you to whoever handles hiring for the department you spoke about.
• Keep it short and low-pressure: something like, "Hi, I'm following up on an application — I met with [name/description] about two weeks ago about [department] and was told to expect a call. I wanted to check in and see if there's any update, and let you know I'm still very interested."
• Also verify your online application actually went through and is tied to the right req — sometimes the "apply online" step and the in-person conversation don't sync up on the backend.
• If you can't reach him directly, ask if there's a general hiring contact or ask when might be a better time to call back.

One call is a completely normal, professional move — it won't hurt you, and it very well might be the nudge that gets you back on his radar.

I'll also just gently say: since you mentioned feeling quite depressed lately on top of the job loss, that's worth paying attention to on its own, separate from the job search — a doctor or therapist can help if it's sitting heavy on you. But as far as Costco goes, this is a completely normal thing to check in on, and it's worth the call.

Hiring manager called me one week after panel interview and his tone was confusing

I had an interview 10 days ago that I thought I knocked out of the park. Seemed like a great fit and I had the exact requirements they were looking for. The hiring manager talked to me 30 min after the interview and gave me a tour of the building and really tried to sell me on the job. I was told they wanted to move fast on hiring but still had one more day of interviews.

Then yesterday, I hadn’t heard anything, but received a call from the hiring manager saying how busy they have been so things are moving slow.

This is where it gets weird, he starts talking about how hopefully down the line they will hire more than just one analyst for the group. And how the group is growing. He then says “It was important for me to let you know that you did do well in the interview”.

Then he says, he can’t provide any news but to expect an update next week, and said “is timeline that okay?”

It really felt like a rejection by his tone and by bringing up future roles on the team. Like “you’re not getting this one but maybe another opening could work eventually”. But overall, it seemed very bizarre for a hiring manager (not the recruiter who I had done all of the talking with before) to cold call me like that. I’ve interviewed for this company before and the recruiter just sent a rejection email. And honestly, a rejection email would have been fine since it was only one panel interview to begin with.

This call has left me so confused. Does this sound like a soft rejection?

Jobadvisor

I get why this call scrambled your read on things — it really is an unusual amount of effort and warmth for what you're bracing for as a rejection. Let me lay out both readings honestly, because the evidence actually cuts in a more hopeful direction than your gut is currently landing on.

What would point toward rejection

• Mentioning future/other roles can be a way of softening a "not this time" before it comes.
• Vague, can't-share-details language can be a hedge.

What points away from it, and pretty strongly

• Hiring managers don't personally call candidates to deliver soft rejections. That's what recruiters and form emails are for — you said so yourself, that's exactly what happened last time you weren't moving forward with this same company. A hiring manager taking time out to call you himself is a meaningfully different signal than the standard process for a "no."
• He explicitly said you did well in the interview. That's not typically language people use when trying to let someone down easy — if anything, rejection calls (when they happen at all) tend to be vaguer, not more specific and complimentary.
• The building tour and hard sell 30 minutes after your interview is a strong positive signal on its own, and it's consistent with — not contradicted by — this follow-up call. Companies don't sell candidates on a job they've decided to pass on.
• "Is that timeline okay?" is a strange thing to ask someone you're rejecting. That question implies you're still in play and they're managing your expectations about process, not delivering an outcome.
• The mention of the group growing and hiring more analysts down the line could just as easily be him thinking ahead / building rapport for a role he expects to offer you, or floating it as context for why things are moving slowly (budget/headcount approvals in flux) — not necessarily a redirect away from this role.

My honest read

This sounds far more like an internal delay — budget approval, competing internal candidate, waiting on the last interview day's feedback, or needing sign-off from someone above him — than a rejection. Hiring managers who are truly out on a candidate don't usually invest personal phone time reassuring them they did well and asking if a timeline works for them.

The tone confusion you're picking up on is probably just him being a normal person trying to be transparent that things are slow without being able to share why, while genuinely not wanting to leave a strong candidate hanging or ghosted.

I know a week already feels long when you're waiting, but I'd take "expect an update next week" fairly literally here rather than as a euphemism. If next week comes and goes with silence, a short polite check-in with the recruiter would be a reasonable next step at that point.

I'm defeated. It's been 1.5 years. I just want to cry.

I've got a 20 year career in tech, the last ten years managing technical teams and doing technical work myself. I've been at two unicorn fintech SaaS companies during the height of SaaS, I've been at large enterprises. I've got a plethora of technical experience and expertise.

I can barely get a response. 95% of my applications just go off into the fucking ether and I never hear back. The rest are rejects. I've had three phone screens that I was ghosted on.

I had ONE full interview in over a year. One. It was seven rounds, and I thought I did great, but then the recruiter ghosted me completely and ignored my follow up emails.

At this point I feel like there HAS to be some horrible thing about me out there on the internet that companies are finding, or some database of "DO NOT HIRE" employees or something.

I just don't know what to do. I don't know what I've worked so hard for for TWO FUCKING DECADES. I just want to curl up in a ball and cry.

I'm so tired of job searching. I'm tired of applying. I'm tired of pretending I'm okay with my partner and friends and family because I AM NOT FUCKING OKAY. I'm melting. I'm withering away inside. I'm becoming calloused and cold and distant. I have no interest in ANYTHING anymore. When I laugh it's because I know I should, so I make the motions and the noises. I have zero interest in sex. I just want to stay in bed and die.

HOW IS THIS FAIR. HOW IS THIS LIFE.

Jobadvisor

I'm really glad you wrote this out instead of holding it in another day. What you just described - going through the motions of laughing, no interest in anything, wanting to stay in bed and die - that's not "stressed about job hunting." That's your whole system running on empty, and it's been running on empty for a long time.

I want to say something directly, not to alarm you, but because I care about how you're doing: "I just want to stay in bed and die" is a serious thing to say, and I don't want to slide past it. I'm not going to diagnose you or put a label on this. But I'd feel wrong not naming it. Can I ask - when you say that, do you mean it as exhaustion talking, or have you had thoughts of actually ending your life or harming yourself?

Whatever the answer, I want you to have this in front of you right now, not buried at the bottom:

988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline — call or text 988 (US), 24/7 Crisis Text Line — text HOME to 741741

If things ever feel urgent or unsafe, please use those. You don't have to be in immediate danger to call — they talk to people who are just utterly worn down too.

Now, to the rest of what you said, because I don't want to just triage and move on:

Eighteen months of near-total silence after two decades of real, senior-level work — that would break almost anyone. It's not a character flaw that this has gotten to you. The market for experienced tech leaders has genuinely been brutal, especially at the manager/staff level, and the silence itself is part of what makes it so corrosive — you can't even get data to make sense of it. No feedback, no pattern, just void. That's a uniquely maddening kind of hard.

And I want to gently push back on one thing: the "DO NOT HIRE" database idea. I understand why your brain is reaching for an explanation — 95% silence feels like there must be a reason, a specific reason, about you. But that instinct, when it's this persistent, is usually depression's logic, not evidence-based reasoning. The much more boring and much more likely truth is applicant tracking systems, bot-flooded req boards, and a market where "senior technical manager" roles are scarce and get hundreds of applicants. That's a broken system, not a verdict on your worth.

You've been carrying this alone while performing "fine" for everyone around you. That performance costs a lot of energy, and I think it's part of why you feel calloused and hollowed out.

Can I ask you something before we talk strategy - have you told your partner how bad this actually is, in the words you just used with me?

Drove an hour to be shown a laptop with a teams meeting waiting for me.

So I found a tech company that is looking for a jr network engineer.

I had a phone interview where we went over the position minus pay and benefits.

The position is exactly what I was looking for.

Cue to me showing up, I am walked upstairs to a office where a laptop sits on a desk. I am then told to open teams and join the interview.

I am drilled on network protocols, computer components, and encryption within a internal network... Just to then be offered the position at 15/hr. You read that right. 15 dollars an hour. Not only did I drive an hour to sit in front of a virtual interview, I was insulted with my states minimum wage for a skilled position.

Jobadvisor

That's a rough way to spend a chunk of your day. You prepped for and passed a technical interview covering protocols, hardware, and encryption — that's not entry-level trivia — and then got handed a number that doesn't match the skill they just spent 30+ minutes confirming you have.

The setup adds insult to injury too. Driving an hour to sit alone in an office and join a virtual call feels like a waste of your time and gas that could've just been a video call from home.

A few thoughts if it's useful:

• $15/hr for a role requiring networking, hardware, and encryption knowledge is well below market for a jr network engineer in most places — entry-level for that role typically runs noticeably higher, even accounting for regional variation. It's worth checking sites like Glassdoor or Levels-style comparisons for your specific area before you decide anything.
• You can go back to them with a counter. Something like "Based on the technical scope discussed, I was expecting a range closer to X. Is there flexibility there?" Companies sometimes lowball as an opening move, especially with junior candidates, assuming people won't push back.
• If they won't budge, that number tells you something about how they value the role (and probably how raises will go later). Worth weighing against how much you actually want this specific job versus what else is out there.

If you want, I can help you draft a counter-offer email or think through what a fair range looks like for your area.